Sanda Ojiambo
As Head of Corporate Responsibility at Safaricom, Sanda has been a key driver of the adoption and implementation of the Shared Value business model and purpose-led business in Kenya.
Sanda Ojiambo is an advocate for the role of business in delivering both purpose and profit. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Development Economics and had a firm conviction to be part of transformation in the world of development policy and practice.
Sanda spent the first 11 years of her career working in the NGO sector and the United Nations, starting off in CARE International in Somalia and moving to UNDP Somalia, leading programmes in diverse areas such as Education, Safe Motherhood, Environmental Conservation, Governance and Landmines Demining. Some highlights from her time in Somalia include being part of the team that delivered Somalia’s first United Nations Human Development Report which was used extensively to guide development funding to Somalia; and starting up some of the first ever reproductive health programmes in Somaliland. After a 5-year highly insightful sojourn in Somalia, Sanda moved on to IPPF Africa Regional Office, a pan-African NGO that focused on women’s health and rights. She provided technical advisory for service delivery, accreditation standards; financial management, governance and advocacy, and enjoyed the challenges of working in and through 40 countries across Africa over a further five years.
In 2008, Sanda joined Safaricom Plc, a Kenyan mobile telecommunications company, with a clear desire to drive corporate contribution to the development and sustainable business agenda through technology, innovation and partnerships. She provided technical guidance and leadership to teams that pioneered integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into Safaricom’s business strategy and the delivery of the first-ever True Value reports for an African corporate; both of which are of immense interest to a broad ecosystem of stakeholders. Sanda leads the Corporate Responsibility Department that coordinates the integration of the SDGs, Sustainability Reporting, Technology for Development Products and the Safaricom and MPESA Foundations. She is continuously excited and challenged by the fact that the Corporate Responsibility agenda is a future-oriented one, addressing key material issues through a business lens.
Sanda is a board member of the Kenya Investment Authority (a State Corporation in charge of the foreign and domestic investment policy agendas of the Government of Kenya); the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (a leading NGO providing holistic services to survivors of gender violence); the Global Development Incubator (an international social enterprise working to drive the adoption of technology for development solutions); and Care Pay Ltd. (a health payments platform solutions company).